Cusco and Machu Picchu
Cusco and Machu PichuThe mountains nestle Cusco in their palm.The arms of three great Andean cordilleras -- Vilcabamba, Urubamba and Vilcanola -- come together and where they meet, there is something of a natural bowl in the landscape. That's where Cusco is, at 3,416...
Navigating Peru’s trail of anger and bloodshed
January 14th 2023 Pisco, Peru.Hundreds of trucks are lined up on the road out of Puquio, a medium-sized town in south central Peru, home to some 15,000 people. The line of vehicles snakes back into the town, right back into the center where the streets are clogged...
Patricio Corcoran 1954 — 2023
January 13th 2023, Lima.Well, this is a blog I wish I was not writing. I have just learnt of the death of my friend, benefactor and guardian angel in Punta Arenas, Patricio Corcoran. He died yesterday, apparently after a short illness, but more I know not. He was only...
A great white nothingness
December 30th 2022, Uyuni, Bolivia.Uyuni is famous to outsiders for two things: its train cemetery and its ginormous salt flat -- transport and minerals: the story of Bolivia, in so many ways.The city's main drag is called Avenida Ferroviaria and the raised median...
Into Bolivia and parts unknown
December 28th, Villa Alota, Bolivia.For the first time on this adventure, I am about to enter pastures entirely new to me. Before this visit to Chile, I had already been to Patagonia, to the Central Valley and to the Atacama. But never to Bolivia; never to Peru and,...
An abandoned town, desecrated graves and an evil eye
Sierra Gorda, Atacama Desert, December 27th 2022.There was something really weird -- a couple of things actually -- on the road between Calama and Antofagasta between Christmas and the New Year. I travelled it because, after San Pedro de Atacama, I had to backtrack to...
Alma and what the tourists don’t see (and neither do I) . . .
San Pedro de Atacama, December 26th. Having entered the Atacama Desert -- the driest place on Planet Earth -- by following the Pacific coastline, I now turned inland and headed for Calama and, ultimately, to San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro is the center of tourism in...
Of Sea Lions and Pelicans, of camping and mining . . . and an Italian from Mullingar
Mejillones, Atacama Desert, December 21st.On Sunday, December 18th, after a pre-Christmas gathering in the Irish Embassy in Santiago, with a choral recital of seasonal music, chat, finger food and wine, I decided I needed to cover some serious ground and make haste...
The shabby chic magic of Valparaiso
Valparaiso, December 15 and 16th 2022.Valparaiso has always had something magical about it for me. Perhaps it is the poem by Oliver St John Gogarty, The Ship.A ship arrived from Valparaiso,Dropped its anchor in the bay,Her name reminded me of kingdoms,Sunlit countries...
The Andean rivers are running dry
December 12th 2022, Santiago.As I move ever further north up the country, some of the reasons for Chile's wealth become more evident.Riding along Ruta 5, the spinal transport road linking together the north, central and the northern part of southern Chile, it is very...